Lily's little pride of lions
by Lily and Prongs
Summary: anthology of the entries for the Forum Wide Competition!
1. First Signs

**name:** Lily and Prongs; aka Lily

**house:** Gryffindor

**week:** one

**task:** use at least two meanings of your prompt

**prompt:** fall

**title:** First Signs

**beta- read by:** x-NewGirlInTown-x _[Your're great!]_

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**First signs**

It was the first week of October, and it still was quite warm. Many students were complaining about the fact that they now had to wear shirts with long sleeves when it would have been more comfortable to still have short ones.

Lily Evans was one of those students. She was loosing loosening her red and gold striped tie while sitting in the shade of a tree near the lake. Though it was only the fifth week back at school, the 7th years were already piled with homework. The teachers didn't skip any opportunities to remind them that this was their final year at Hogwarts, and to emphasise how important the N.E.W.T.s were.

Lily closed the book she had been reading for the past hour – the _Guide to Advanced Transfiguration II_ – and sighed. Leaning against the old oak tree, she watched the Gryffindor Quidditch team, which was practising on the other side of the lake for the first game of the season. Among them, there was a particular chaser who frequently asked her out. He had jet black hair that always looked a bit untidy, wore glasses, and was Head Boy. The latter happened to be the reason James Potter now had even more opportunities to be around Lily than he ever had had before. Since she was Head Girl, they had a lot of things to do together and had to get along somehow.

She had to admit that James Potter - by far - wasn't as annoying as he used to be. In fact, he had become quite nice since their departure from King's Cross _before_ the summer holidays. On the train ride the previous June, he had been threatening a group of already anxious second years with Bat-Bogey hexing them all, if they kept blocking the way. He had eaten three of Marlene's Cauldron Cakes without permission and, in exchange, given her a soap flavoured Bertie Bott's on purpose. He and Sirius had made fun of Severus Snape, as usual. The two of them had also caused an unplanned halt of the train because they were pretending to throw other people's belongings out of the window, and many of the owners thought they were actually doing it. Which, in turn, caused a fairly serious panic among the students within the nearest five compartments.

That was one of the moments that Lily wished the teachers were on the train as well. As it stood, they weren't and thus, it took the driver about 20 minutes to calm everyone down, and to be able to continue the journey safely.

This, among other things, was what he had done before the summer holidays. Something – perhaps receiving the Head Boy badge had helped – during the break had changed James' attitude towards... pretty much everyone, and everything, for the better.

Since they had met again on September 1st, he had not hexed anyone just for fun, had not called Professor McGonagall 'Minnie', had not transfigured the rabbit he was supposed to be working with in Charms into a miniature jaguar (which still would have looked rather large next to Flitwick), and had not made any pieces of bacon, toast or cucumber fly around at breakfast.

Maybe even a self-appointed Marauder matured sometimes. James Potter, shocking as it was, was actually starting to act his age. Whether this was his new strategy for finally talking her into going out with him, Lily couldn't tell. All she could tell for sure was that she liked this new James. Maybe even a bit more than that. But time would tell. The term had started only recently, which meant there still was plenty of time for James to do childish, stupid, and particularly immature things.

"Evans!". Lily looked around, confused as to where the voice was suddenly coming from. She hadn't noticed anyone. The sky above the Quidditch pitch was empty now – she must have dozed off for a while, and had not noticed the team leaving.

There he was, running towards her, waving something wildly. "Hey, Evans!"

James Potter tried to take off his Quidditch robes without slowing down, but it didn't work as planned. One wrong movement and what had to happen, happened: he stepped on the scarlet hem, tripped – and sprawled on the grass. The small box flew out of his hands, and Lily caught it.

"Ouch -", James moaned as he sat up. When he saw the box in Lily's hands, he added: "Cookies? Ryan brought them, it's his birthday. I thought you might want some."

"That's nice. Are you okay?" she asked.

"I think so". James ruffled his hair. "I just wouldn't have pictured myself at your feet, if you had asked me this morning".

They sat together and ate chocolate cookies until the sun began to sink. As they decided to go back to the castle, and James pulled Lily up, a few leaves were gracefully gliding towards the ground.

The redhead smiled. Looked like it wasn't only Gryffindor chasers who were falling down that day. Red and yellow falling leaves; the first signs that summer was drawing to a close. The first signs of autumn – _of fall_. What an appropriate coincidence.

And maybe – just maybe – that day was also the first sign of an important change in the relationship between Lily Evans and James Potter. After all, if everything else was falling...why shouldn't she?


	2. Une lettre sirieuse

**name:** Lily and Prongs; aka Lily

**house:** Gryffindor

**week:** two

**task:** write about two characters

**prompt:** one of them must be in your house

**characters: **Sirius Black & Lily Evans

**title:** Une lettre sirieuse

**beta- read by:** SiriusMarauderFan _[Thanks a lot! I'll put the other suggestions in a rewritten version (later), okay?]_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Harry Potter universe!

**A/N: **- in this story, Lily and Sirius are (more or less) friend – but that does not necessarily mean that they can't surprise the other one any more with things they didn't know, yet

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Une lettre _siri_euse

When Lily climbed through the portrait hole, an unusual scene caught her eyes. The Marauders playing Exploding Snap on the floor in the middle of the common room was not a rare occurrence. This time, however, one of them was missing. The Gryffindor in question sat alone at a table in the corner, parchment and quill in front of him. Tongue stuck between his teeth, he was skimming quickly through a book that looked suspiciously like a dictionary.

Sirius Black was rarely seen actually studying, let alone working on something that was not either a piece of homework or a plan concerning a night-time trip with his friends. So what could be interesting and important enough to get his full attention, while he showed complete disregard for the card game? And what would he need a dictionary for? Hogwarts did not offer language courses. At least not officially. There were a few student organized groups where native speakers tried to teach the others their language. But as far as Lily knew, Sirius had never attended such a study group.

Curious, Lily walked over to the other side of the common room and tried to identify what Sirius had written so far by looking over his shoulder. The written text turned out to be a letter. A common thing to write, seeing that they were attending a boarding school. But- wait!

"'_Le livre s'agit de_'? Sirius, since when do you write letters in _French_? I didn't know you knew anyone in France. And do you actually read books in your free time?" "I have a pen friend," Sirius replied briefly. "You have a what?" Lily must have misheard. "A pen friend," he repeated, and and added a bit nervously: "At... at Beauxbatons." She looked unbelievingly at him: "You're kidding. You can't be serious." "I thought you knew my name! I'm Sirius by birth," he told her, slightly smirking. "Oh, this joke is already as old as the hills! You know what I mean... I mean, _how_ did that happen? How did you get to know someone from Beauxbatons? And since when do you speak French?"

"Well... we met in Denmark. Last summer, when I went there with my uncle Alphard. Ever since, we've been exchanging letters – to be honest, it surprises me that you didn't find out earlier. As for the French... we had a private teacher, me and Regulus, before we attended Hogwarts. Sadly, I never really paid attention to what he was teaching us. Actually, I hated the lessons because our parents _made_ us have them."

"I see. If you had paid attention, you wouldn't have written that." "What?" "It's _dans le livre, il s'agit de,_" she answered the question and asked in return: "Why do you write this part in French while the rest of the letter is in English, anyway?" Sirius toyed with the falcon quill on the table: "It's because... see... she asked me about this book, and...-" "_She_?", Lily interrupted Sirius' attempt of an explanation, "So you correspond with a girl?" Sirius nodded slightly. "Then, by the looks of it, you're trying to impress her...", Lily stated with a smile.

"What's her name, by the way?" "Alice. But I have a question, too." Sirius turned to her again. "What is it?", she asked. "How come, _you_ know the correct sentence – assuming that it _is_ correct?" Now, it was Lily who looked caught. "I... You know that my sister went to a muggle secondary school. I borrowed one of her books," she admitted. "You really _are_ obsessed with studying, Lily Evans! You signed up for extra classes at Hogwarts, and learn a foreign language as a sideline, as well? I always knew you are crazy, here's the prove", he teased her playfully. "This is not an obsession! I'm just... interested in a lot of things," she defended herself, and made an attempt to evade a discussion about her further learning habits by asking: "You haven't yet told me what book it is you have read and are now telling your correspondent about."

"Well... ever heard of Niklas Eddison?" Lily shook her head. "Anyways, this Niklas Eddison claimed that there are mysterious magical creatures called Crumple-Horned Snorkacks living in Sweden. In this book, he tells about what happened on one of his expeditions in search of this Crumple-Horned Snor-thing. All very fishy, if you asked me. Still, it's quite funny and interesting to read. He describes that..."

...

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**A/N 2:** Sorry for the lack of spaces within the dialogue... I'll put in some more as soon as all judges reviewed this chapter since Tat already did and I don't want to cause to muc confusion...


	3. I wish I could make it last longer

**Name: **Lily and Prongs; aka Lily

**House:** Gryffindor

**Week:** three

**Task:** chose one of the given 8 prompt tables and use at least 5 of the 7 words

**Prompts: **outside, letters, something is missing, step, survey, dancing, slope (all used)

**Title: **I wish I could make it last longer

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Harry Potter universe!

**beta- read by:** SiriusMarauderFan _(thank you, again ^^) _

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**I wish I could make it last longer**

When, in three days, this school year was over, everything would be different. When this school year was over, he would probably still desperately wait for his usual Hogwarts letter that listed all the books needed for the upcoming term. He would probably still desperately wait for September 1st to come – until he would realize that there wouldn't be any more Hogwarts letters, and September 1st would be no different than August 31st and September 2nd.

Despite the start of a new chapter of his life, there was something else that made James Potter feel so excited about the summer: The Quidditch World Cup in Belgium. The best about it was that he, James, had convinced his girlfriend to accompany him to the final match.

At first, she had refused to come with him because, as she had said, there was no point in watching a game of Quidditch with teams playing each other you didn't actually support. But James had convinced her that it was the event itself that made it all so special and worth watching. The two best Quidditch teams of the world – who would want to miss _that_?

James bringing Lily to like his favourite sports was another step in the right direction – closer together. He didn't want to change her but Quidditch was an important part of his life and it was his life he wanted to share with the girl he loved.

So he hoped that he would be able to make Lily like the sport a bit more than she used to like it. She never disliked it, but Lily could probably live without Quidditch. He could never live without it. It would always feel as if something was missing. James Potter without the famous fast sport on broomsticks in his life would be like a chocolate cake without chocolate, a lion without teeth, a sweet lemon, socks that never started to smell even if you were wearing them for days and weeks, a... to get to the heart of it: impossible.

So... now that Lily was definitely going to be with him at the match, the only question that needed to be answered was 'What about Sirius?' James wanted to spend time with his girlfriend, and he wanted to have time to show her how such big events worked in the wizarding world. With all the security arrangements concerning the Statute of Secrecy, and how all the people found a place to sleep.

The only problem was, he also wanted to enjoy the World Cup together with his best mate. Just like four years previously. The Potter family and Sirius Black had been camping at a hillside in Portugal for a week. And although they had a rather large tent, the two of them preferred to sleep outside because they had been very lucky with the weather and they just felt like doing it.

They also had 'just felt like it' when they had been running downhill one of the paths that were marked with a large sign

STEEP SLOPE – DO NOT RUN.

To them, this was an overstatement. After all, there was a _path_ that lead downwards!

James grinned by the thought of it. He and Sirius had done a lot of things that were forbidden by signs. Or school rules. They either just ignored them because they didn't take them serious or didn't think them important enough to be followed, or they broke them on purpose to show that they could.

Thanks to his inherited Invisibility cloak and their most precious invention – the Marauder's Map – they often got away with it. But not always. They also had ended up in detentions rather frequently. Or in accidents, as on said day while running downhill where you really shouldn't. Fortunately, nothing too serious had happened to them.

They were usually lucky quite often in this kind of situation, too. If someone ever conducted a survey, they would easily become top of the list, 'The luckiest students to ever pass through Hogwarts'. Three days and they were able to actually say that they had _passed though Hogwarts_. Hopefully they had (though they were absolutely sure about it!). They were going to receive their N.E.W.T. results later in July.

Only two days left until the ball. This was another thing to worry about. James may have had some lessons but these lessons didn't make him a good dancer. In fact, he was still lousy – and therefore a little worried that Lily insisted on dancing with him. Dancing was okay, as long as they were alone. But embarrassing himself in front of the whole school? That was different. Still, James would risk it. Lily loved dancing, and he dancing with her made her happy, and a happy Lily made James happy.

After the ball, their schooltime was finally going to end. There were only three days left. Three days! If he was honest with himself, James didn't really want to leave. Never again coming back to the castle in autumn? Never again sneaking out at night with his fellow Marauders? Never again spending hours just sitting by the lake with Lily, watching the Giant Squid? And – the worst of it all – never again playing Quidditch for the house team?

Then, there was the question what to do with his life now. Would he have to make important decisions? Attend the Auror Academy, like he and Sirius had told McGonagall in their fifth year, or not? If yes: how much time would he have to actually see Lily? If no: did he have alternate ideas for his future?

These were thoughts that scared James. He was not known to be scared easily. After all, there were reasons why he had been sorted into Gryffindor. Nevertheless, this was different. This - well, this was life. The actual life, not a scheduled, easy life of a student, any more.

He walked downstairs into the entrance hall, heading for dinner. This was one of the very counted last times it was ever going to be like this.

Why couldn't you just make the things you liked last at least a little while longer?


	4. Isn't there anything she likes?

**Name:** Lily and Prongs; aka Lily

**House:** Gryffindor

**Week:** four

**Task:** write a story about the given character and another one (who is not in your house) as a pairing

**given character:** Fleur Delacour

**second character:** Roger Davies; information taken from GoF

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Harry Potter universe!

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**Isn't there anything she likes?**

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It is my sixth year at Hogwarts and I already had more girlfriends than all of my classmates put together. That's probably not quite the truth; but that's what they say about me. I'm not a Casanova! No, really – I just haven't found the love of my life yet.

You'd think with how I talk about myself that I didn't have any difficulties asking someone out. But this time had been different. I had never been so nervous, and it hadn't even been about a real date. It was the Yule Ball; everyone had been looking for a partner to go with and I was no exception. I also wasn't the only one who wanted to ask out _her_.

Almost everyone talked about it, but not one of them seemed able to actually go through with their courageous plans. Maybe one had. I'd seen them almost carry the poor Weasley boy back up to their common room. That was a deterrent, and from then on most flinched whenever _she_ had passed by.

I doubted that she had actually done anything to the redhead, but not everyone had agreed with me. "_She's a Veela!_", had been an often heard warning. I didn't care. I doubted that she was. Veelas were... different. I had seen them at the Quidditch World Cup. She couldn't be one - she just happened to be strikingly beautiful. And she had a cute accent. Sure, she complained a lot. But what did it matter?

On one day, just a few before the ball, I had mustered up enough courage to ask her. I think I stammered a lot. And I think it had been quite a miracle that she got what I had been saying; or at least tried to say. An even greater miracle had been that she actually said yes! I couldn't believe my ears.

Finally came the great day. Or rather, the great night. I had almost tripped over my dress robes because I hadn't looked where I had been putting my feet. Who cared about feet when you had an angel standing next to you? She really looked like one in her robes of silver satin. How on earth was I supposed to be able to actually dance, with her in front of me? Why did we even have to dance? I could have easily spent the whole night just looking at her.

Somehow, I had managed to finish the dance without any accidents. Almost an hour had passed when dinner had been served, or rather just appeared on our (due to Hogwarts hosting the Triwizard Tournament) golden plates. At first, it had been very pleasant. Then, as usual, like it was the basis of all conversation, she had started to complain. I only remember something about icy sculptures, suits of amour, and a poltergeist. I admit that I had hardly been listening to what she said. Thinking back, I must also admit that I never heard her say anything positive about our castle. She always found something she didn't like. Of most of the things, I've only heard when other students complained about her frequently complaining. Was this what she was really like? I doubted it. There had to be something she liked.

I had thought it to be a good idea to go for a walk with her. She had stopped complaining; instead she had pulled me into a nearby rosebush. I don't remember the seconds after that. One moment I had been looking into her diamond-like blue eyes, the next moment I had been kissing her.

A few minutes had passed, when we had been interrupted by the shrieking headmistress. I hadn't even noticed her presence until then. _Giants_? Had Madame Maxime actually said something about giants? I didn't have the time to think properly about that. Suddenly, I had been urgently pushed away. What was it now? I looked at my company. She glared at me like an angry dragon! What had I done wrong? She had muttered something about the rosebushes' thorns ruining her dress and rushed away back towards the castle. I had followed her as fast as I could, baffled by her sudden mood alteration. After all, it had been her who had dragged me into these bushes, hadn't it? Was she mad at me – or was it something that Madame Maxime had said that upset her?

I'll probably never know. Sadly, we hadn't spoken much after that incident; neither during the remaining time at the Yule Ball, nor later.

I'm passing the rosebushes we had been standing in almost a half year ago. They're green now. They look different without all the snow on them. Almost as if they weren't the same bushes. But still, they are the very same. They strongly remind me of her, of her different faces.

After the Yule Ball I had thought that she didn't like anything. She didn't like Hogwarts, and she probably didn't like me either. Not the way I liked her. She didn't seem to like anyone.

I now know that I was wrong. About my feelings – and about her. When I saw her hugging her little sister after the second task, I felt sorry for everything negative I had ever said, or even only thought, about her. She had a very nice side; that was for sure. I now think she just doesn't show it to everyone.

Still, she kept complaining about the castle. A habit that made me surer that we were not meant to be together. How could she love someone who loved a place she disliked so much? But her impression of Hogwarts was not the main reason I gave up on her. It's more the way she acts and talks whenever Bill Weasley is around. He had arrived only yesterday to meet Harry Potter, since the boy didn't have a family any more. But this one day was enough to see that I didn't have a chance for a date with her. Not any more, I've waited to long.

Another reason for all the others to think that I am someone who doesn't care about the girls he dated. I went to the Yule Ball with Fleur Delacour and never talked to her again. I'm not like that. I'm sorry for every single time I gave someone the impression it all didn't matter to me. That I didn't want a longer lasting relationship. I can't help it, it just happens.

Some say I'm damn lucky with girls; they all want to go out with me. I say I'm the most unlucky person I've ever met. None of the relationships I had had lasted for long, for whatever reasons. Perhaps, I should give it a rest and hold onto Quidditch. Hopefully, I'm a better captain than boyfriend. I missed Quidditch this year. Next year, I will make everyone remember me being the captain who chose the winning team.

Ravenclaw for the cup!

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**beta-read by: **Phips and Filly _[thanks again, you're great! And yes, it's all good :) ]_


	5. Define 'right'

**Name:** Lily and Prongs; aka Lily

**House:** Gryffindor

**Week:** five

**characters:** Regulus Black

**chosen quote: **Simple Plan, "God must hate me"

_I'm stuck in hell_

_And I wanna go home_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Harry Potter universe!

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**Define '_right_'**

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Two weeks prior, Regulus Black had been so proud. He had known exactly what he wanted; he had known his goals and what was right. But had he really, if he were to ask himself that. Did he actually have any goals? What _was_ right?... Could a person even define '_right_'?

He had thought he was doing the right thing in joining the Death Eaters. His brother on the other hand had done the exact opposite, by joining a group that was fighting against Voldemort. Sure Sirius hadn't specifically told him. They had no contact anymore, not since Hogwarts. But he happened to be very good at making conclusions.

He had made the 'right' conclusion after what had happen about two weeks before. When the Dark Lord demanded a house elf, Regulus had eagerly suggested Kreacher, one loyal to the Black family. He had been delighted when the Dark Lord accepted.

But everything changed the moment Kreacher returned to Number 12, Grimmauld Place. He had looked awful and was hardly been able to talk. His voice had been a mere whisper and he had been coughing all the time. He had been so weak that Regulus had to carry him up to his bedroom that day. Later, while the house elf had been telling what had happened and why he was in this horrible state, Regulus had gone paler with every sentence. How could anyone do all that to _his_ Kreacher, even if he was only a house elf? The Dark Lord hadn't said anything about letting the house elf die when he demanded one!

A fortnight later, Regulus was pacing his bedroom nervously. He knew everything he needed to know. He was sure of where he had to go and what to do there. It had been a lot of work to magic a simple silver locket into one that resembled Slytherins' enough to mistake them at the first sight.

He felt sick. How had he gotten into this? When he had joined, he had thought that all this was about stating that pure-blooded wizards were better than Mudbloods and Muggles. He thought it was about giving the say to the right persons; about showing that magic was might.

Well his fellow Death Eaters definitely did show that magic was might. They kidnapped and killed any Muggles who got in their way. Regulas hadn't cared much about it until he had to witness it for himself. On that day he had been with a group that tried again (they had visited her before) to convince a ccertain witch to join their cause. Instead of talking, they had simply tortured her. They also had encouraged him to do the same. "She had her chance", they had said. When she had refused to ally to them and had shouted that she would tell the ministry, they didn't hesitate to use an unforgivable curse.

What had shocked Regulus so much was that they had acted more forcefully than he had ever imagined. He had known that some people had been killed – but to watch it happen was different. It had also shocked him that she had been a pureblood. It made him think.

What if _he_ disagreed with one of them sometime? What if he ever dared to question one of the steps the Dark Lord was planning? What if... what if he ever wanted to quit? The Dark Lord would never let him. He was bound to be a Death Eater. Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater.

More situations like that had followed. He had pushed them to the back of his mind. It had worked – until he saw Kreacher. Weak, abused. There was no other word to describe it better. It brought back his thoughts about never being able to quit, his fears that no one would care if anything happened to him.

Regulus had suspected the Dark Lord to have made a Horcrux for a while, considering all these statements about immortality. All the arrogant certainty he had said it with. All the other little things he had slipped during their meetings. Knowing Kreacher's tale, Regulus was absolutely sure he was right. And he, Regulus, knew exactly where the Horcrux was right now. It had never meant to be a wizarding ruled world. It was all only about the Dark Lord. He just needed someone to achieve whatever he wanted. Sirius had been right. He should have listened to his brother, just _once_.

Now, it was too late. He would never be able to live a normal life again. That was all he wanted right then. If he wouldn't immediately end up like the witch they had tortured, he would be on the run for the rest of his life. And it surely wouldn't be a long life. He had seen too much, he knew too much. He had a brother who fought the Death Eaters. They would think he would run straight to him!

He couldn't even deny that he would not. He still disagreed with his brother's opinion on Muggle-borns, as Sirius used to call them, but perhaps Sirius was more right than he was. He wasn't sure whether he could ally to the group his brother was in, whatever group that was, but at least he knew one thing: All the horrible stories about Death Eaters Sirius had told him were true. They differed a bit from the actual occurrences, but Regulus couldn't blame his brother for overdoing it. Sirius had always hated dark magic.

Regulus tightened the grip on the quill in his hand and stopped in front of his desk. He bent over to finish the note which he would take with him to the cave Kreacher had told him about. He read through the few lines he had written once more, and then signed it: _R.A.B._

He took a deep breath. There was no other way. He had to do what he was about to do. He would have to find a way to stop Voldemort from gaining more power. This note, he told himself, would be the very last time he referred to Voldemort as the "Dark Lord". Another thing, his brother was perhaps right about: Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.

Regulus stepped out of the room, and called for the only one who could bring him where he needed to go: "Kreacher?" It was now or never.

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**author's note**: I left out Peter on purpose. In my imagination (based on the HP wiki), he joined after Regulus' death (1979) in 1980. So Regulus didn't know what exactly the Order was or what it was called, and who else was in. But from the way (JKR said something about this topic in an interview) he figured out the Horcrux secret, I can clearly imagine that he figured out his brother was working for this defence group (that's all he knew about the Order).

I'm also talking about only _one_ Horcrux because I doubt that Regulus had ever thought of more than one. We know from the books that even making one is a rare case. We also know that Regulus knew about that secret – but is isn't mentioned that he knew that there was more than one. I think I he had known, he had written something different as a note for the locket.

I assume from the note that he didn't know about the Inferi. I think he thought that he would have at least some time to find a way to destroy the Horcrux when he wrote it.

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**beta-read by: **Phips and Filly (_thank you – and I'm glad you liked it ^^_)


	6. The element of purity

**Name:** Lily and Prongs; aka Lily

**House:** Gryffindor

**Week:** six

**character: **Cedric Diggory

**missing moment: **GoF, Cedric figuring out the egg's clue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Harry Potter universe!

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**The Element of Purity**

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"Oh please make this thing shut up, Diggory, will you?"

I sighed, closed the large golden egg again, and stared at the curtains of my four-poster. It was pointless. How, for Helga Hufflepuff's most precious velvet dress robes, were those horrible screams supposed to tell me what the second task was? The only thing they had achieved so far was to be so annoying that no one wanted to sit next to me. I couldn't even blame them for avoiding it**-** it really _got_ on your nerves after a while.

Only, the thing was, I was running outof time. February wasn't too long away any more. I figured, even if I found out what I was going to face, it would still take some time to find a way to master whatever it was. They wouldn't make it so easy for us and tell us everything with the egg.

I decided to go to the library straight after breakfast. I had already read half of the countless number of books there**,** but maybe I had overlooked some very short paragraph about heavy, screaming eggs that was printed in very tiny letters. There just had to be _something_.

I tried everything I could think of. I had even shouted back at the voices – as far one could call it voices! It only made my room mates laugh at me.

I rolled on my back and pulled the covers up to my chin. If I was lucky, I'd dream of something that would help me in one way or the other...

For a Saturday morning, I got up rather early. I usually only do this for Quidditch practice. I missed playing Quidditch. To be honest, I wouldn't say no if they ended this tournament and gave us back my favourite free time activity. I'd rather have a replay on the Quidditch pitch with Potter than compete with him in tasks where you got noisy objects a reward for not letting yourself burn entirely or have your arm bitten off.

Potter – if he hadn't told me, if he hadn't warned me... I'd probably died of shock when seeing the dragons! Yes, I put my name in the Goblet of Fire – but that doesn't mean, I fancied life threatening encounters.

I hoped I'd figure out the egg's secret first. This way, I could repay Potter for telling me about the first task. I had to admit, he was doing better than I had thought he would. He is only a fourth-year and managed to pass a dragon better than I, the sixth-year.

We both deserved a fair competition. Sure, we were Quidditch rivals but we represented the same school, didn't we? Besides, I was more than sure that the other two got help from their heads of school – even though we weren't allowed to and should give our own best. Not someone else's.

Either way, I wouldn't let the Triwizard become even more unfair by knowingly letting someone be the only one surprised by the task.

When I went to breakfast, I met professor Moody halfway up the stairs. I doubted that he actually had something to do downstairs – all there was were our common room and the kitchens. Nevertheless, it didn't surprise me to see him there. He didn't need a reason to frequently search the whole castle for anything dangerous. And when I say the _whole castle_, I mean the whole castle. I think his job as an Auror made him a bit paranoid.

[On one hand, I was quite glad to have a teacher in DADA who actually taught something, but he was overdoing it. He used dark magic in class, in front of his students!

I'd have preferred to have Lupin for another year. I don't mind him being a werewolf. He was the best teacher I ever had in DADA and seemed to be a very nice person.]

Anyway, as I went upstairs, I met professor Moody. When I had already passed by, he suddenly gripped my arm. I gave a jerk and spun around, and was met by a glare from his freaky magic eye. Honestly, this man knew how to startle you!

He must have noticed my surprise. Well, it wasn't hard to miss, I think even someone normal would have seen it.

"Constant vigilance!"

I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. I always try my very best to be polite to teachers, and everyone else. But Moody's frequent warnings (which, obviously, were quite unnecessary most of the time) made it difficult to stick to my usual attitude.

"If you don't watch out, this tournament could end rather unpleasantly for you! If you even reach the end of it. After all, it doesn't even look like you've got the meaning of the chant down yet."

Chant? The noise was supposed to be someone singing? This time, I tried to hide my surprise better.

"You did not. I see." Dammit, I wouldn't be surprised if he could read minds as well as see though solid things! Since he already knew anyways, I shook my head.

"Another medium could help."

My surprise changed into confusion. "Another medium, professor?" I asked.

"The air locks our ears to the tune of the pure. Too many unworthy listeners around." As if to underline his words, he spun his magical eye around – like he expected to get jumped right from within the stone walls at any moment.

I didn't know what to say, bewilderment evident on my face.

"Keep your eyes open, young man!" professor Moody advised me, continuing his way down the staircase.

I didn't care about what Moody had told me until it was lunch time and I could barely make out the table under the mounds of library books I had piled in it. Perhaps I should give it a try and think about what he could have meant.

So air, for some reason, was not the right medium. Did that mean, I had to open the egg somewhere without any air around? How was that supposed to work? And what about that "pure" thing?

But... if you took "medium" as a surrounding, an element or so, then I could only think of one: water. Water was supposed to be the element of purity, wasn't it?

So all I needed to do was to take a bath? Was that old man kidding me?

Moody was almost worse than Dumbledore. He suggested a lot of... funny stuff, too.

I decided to try it. But I had to take the egg somewhere without too many witnesses. For one thing, the screams were annoying and hurt people's ears. For another, I didn't want anyone to watch me taking a bath with the egg in my lap!

Being a prefect had its advantages, one of which was that we had our own bathroom. So I went up to the fifth floor around half past five. I hoped I had chosen a time at which no one else would walk in. Most of the students didn't use the bathrooms for bathing too short before, during or directly after dinner.

I called out the password, "Pine fresh!" The painting swung open to show the huge and magnificent bathroom. I loved that bathroom.

I picked up one of the fluffy towels and then let in some water. I just hoped, I didn't accidentally put in too much perfume. Trouble was, there were simply too many tabs to remember which one held what.

Finally, I took my clothes off and took seat in the mountains of bubbles.

The mermaid in the painting wasn't watching, for a change. She was much to occupied with brushing her hair to even notice that the water was no longer running. Lucky me.

Once more I thought about what I knew. Or rather, what I had tried to assume from the riddle Moody had given me.

Obviously, I had to put the egg underwater. Otherwise, it made no sense at all since even within the walls of a bathroom, it would still be in the medium of air.

I reached out for the egg and submerged it. Slowly, very carefully, I opened it. I had prepared myselffor the familiar screams – but the sounds that came from under the water's surface were different. Unexpected. Almost... beautiful. But I still couldn't understand a word.

When the sound stopped, I shut the egg, took a deep breath, put my head underwater right next to the egg, and opened it again.

I almost swallowed a full mouth of water when I gasped at what made its way to my ears.

It was a song that was for sure. But what did it mean?

I sat for a long time, with my head in the neck, thinking hard. I realized that I must have been talking to myself all the time, when I heard the mermaid giggle. She _always_ does, it sometimes gets as annoying as the screaming egg.

The mermaid! Did the song refer to mermaids? Weren't the tasks supposed to take place within the school grounds? There definitely weren't any mermaids at Hogwarts. Well, except this one in the painting. Did the task have to do with her? But then, wasn't that a bit unfair? I was the only one who could possibly know about her. Potter was to young to be a prefect and the other two had never been to Hogwarts before.

No, the song was sung by someone else. Perhaps the mermaid knew something.

"Hey...," I suddenly realized I didn't know her name. "Hey you, mermaid," I tried to address her. I had thought she might be offended, butI was wrong. It made her giggle even more, but she stilldidn't say anything**. **I decided to continue. "What creatures live down in the black lake? Anything that can sing, by any chance?"

No answer. No spoken answer, that was. She sort of did answer, but only by flashing her fins and more giggling, if this was even possible.

She was no help. No help _at all_.

I sighed – and then it hit me like a flash of lightning: merpeople!

Was that the answer? Merpeople? Down in the lake? I never knew there were any. But what else could it be? It fit perfectly.

That brought up a whole new problem: If they were in the lake and under the water's surface, and they would take something from me that I had to get back within one hour... how was I supposed to breath? I'm human**-** I need air, not water!

It was exactly like I had expected. Solving one problem only gave you another difficult thing to worry about. Though there was some hope in this case. The library definitely held some information on how to breath underwater. To find out what I would have to do would be the next step for me.

Looking down on the water, I thought that I was quite lucky not to have needed a minute longer to figure out the egg's clue. There were hardly any bubbles left. What fun the mermaid would have had!

Nervously, I took one last look at her, and when I saw she wasn't watching, I hastily got out, towelled myself, and got dressed.

Egg under my arm and with my heart at least a tad lighter, I left the prefect's bathroom.

* * *

**Beta:** Charlie'sDragon _[thanks ^^]_


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